Tire for bicycle or other vehicle wheels.



Patented Mar. 6, i900.

No. 644.6l3.

W. LENNARD-FUOTE. TIRE FOR BICYCLE OR OTHER VEHICLE WHEELS.

(Application filed June 26, 1899.)

(No Model.)

INVENTOR WlTNESSES TERS 110.. FNOT no WASNXNGTON n c ATENT Enron.

\VILLIAM LENNARD-FOOTE, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

TIRE FOR BICYCLE OR OTHER VEHICLE WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,613, dated March 6,1900.

Application filed June 26, 1899.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM LENNARD- FooTE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county ofKings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful1mprovements in Tires for Bicycle or other Vehicle YVheels, of which thefollowingis a specification.

This invention relates to tires for the wheels of vehicles, includingbicycles; and an object of the invention is to devisea pneumatic tirewhich shall be durable and easily applied by an unskilled person.

A further object is to obtain all the advantages of an inflated air-tubein a vehicle-tire without having the air-tube in contact with theroadway, thereby also avoiding the possibility of the inflated tubebeing punctured when the vehicle is in use.

In the present invention 1 make use of a cork base adapted to bereceived by the groove in the rim of the wheel, and in this respect theinvention resembles that shown and described in my Letters Patent,granted March 21, 1899, No. 621,451; but in the patented structure thereis no pneumatic tube employed as in the present instance, and there areother important novel features embodied in the new structure.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andwherein like features are indicated by like numerals of reference in theseveral views, Figure 1 is a side View of a vehicle-wheel having a tirecomposed of a continuous base of molded cork. Fig. 2 is a similar viewwith the cork base composedof sections. Fig. 3 is a crosssection on theline 3 3 of Figs. 1 and 2 close to the valve of the pneumatic tube. Fig.4 is a cross-section on the line 4 40f Figs. 1 and 2, showing the boltsby which the tire is clamped to the wheel-rim. Fig. 5 is a crosssectionthrough the cork base and wheel-rim, showing the connection of the spoketo the rim; and Fig. 6 is a detached view of the core resting on theperiphery of the cork base and being interposed between the air-tube andthe tread of the tire.

Referring to the drawings, 7 indicates the usual grooved rim of thevehicle-wheel, and 8 a cork base seated in the grooved rim 7. The

Serial No, 721,824. (No model.)

cork base is provided with a deep channel 9 and has an exterior surfaceadapting it to seat snugly in the groove of the rim 7. The cork base maybe made either in a continuous piece, molded from cork waste, asdescribed in my Letters Patent No. 621,451, or in sections of suitablelength. When the base is made in sections, I may place between thejoints of the sections a thin plate or washer 10, of rubber, rawhide, orleather, to add rigidity and strength to the base.

The cork base or each individual section thereof is provided with acovering 11, of canvas or other suitable material, adapted to receive avarnish and serving to protect the base. The ends of this covering arebrought together at the bottom of the channel 9 and firmly cemented inplace.

Within the channel 9 of the base 10 there is arranged a rubber'tube 12,which is'adapted to be inflated through the valve 13, connected to thetube and extending through the cork base and wheel-rim. Resting on theperiphery of the cork base 8, over the top of the channel 9, is a core14, which extends into the channel suficiently to permit the tube 12when inflated to bear firmly against it. core 14 may be made of cork,rubber, leather, or other suitable material, but preferably of cork onaccount of its lightness. The core 14 mayalso be provided on its undersurface with a covering 14, of canvas or the like, which serves toprotect and strengthen the same.

The tread or outer casing, which is in contact with the roadway, isindicated at 15. It is made of rubber, leather, rawhide, or othersuitable material. This tread 15 is of a desirable thickness andpreferably of the conformation shown in cross-section in the drawings,and it is placed in position over the core 14 and secured in place byhaving its side extensions 15 sufficiently long to extend down to thewheel-rim 7 and enter suitable grooves 15 formed in the cork base justwithin the edges of the wheel-rim 7, the rim 7 being sprung back topermit the ends of the extensions 15 to be secured within the grooves.The ends of the extensions 15 may also be cemented within the grooves15". Instead of having the extensions 15 sufficiently long to reach downto the wheel-rim they The may terminate just below the thickened part ofthe tread 15 and be secured to the cork base by being cemented in thegrooves 15' formed in the base, as shown in Fig. 4. The extensions 15 ofthe tread serve not only to hold the tread in place, but also to protectthe cork base against injury by stones or the like on the roadway.

hen the tube 12 in the channel of the base Sis inflated and forcedagainst the core 14, which fills the opening to channel 9, a cushioningsupport for the tread 15 is provided, since the tread 15 bears directlyon the core 1%, which is elastically supported by the pneumatic tubewithin the channel of the base of the tire.

The tire is secured to the rim of the wheel by small bolts 16, fastenedto the base 8 and passing through the rim '7 and provided withscrew-nuts 16 as shown in Fig. 4.

The base of cork is light as well as elastic, both of which aredesirable qualities in a wheel-tire. The pneumatic tube being incasedwithin the base is completely protected against puncture, and the core14 interposed between the protected pneumatic tube and the tread 15 isof suilicient thickness to prevent puncture of the pneumatic tube by anydevice that might accidentally enter the tread 15. All the advantages ofan exposed pneumatic tire are obtained by my present invention with theobvious additional advantages due to its novel construction.

Having thus described my invention, .what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. In a tire for bicycle and othervehicle wheels, the combination with a base of cork provided with acontinuous channel, of a pneumatic tube in said channel, a core closingthe entrance to said channel and a tread of suitable material coveringthe core and suitably secured to the cork base.

2. In a tire for bicycle and other vehicle wheels, the combination witha base of cork provided with a continuous channel and covered exteriorlyand interiorly by canvas or the like, of a pneumatic tube in the channelof the base, a core suspended over the entrance to the channel and atread of suitable material covering said core and having side extensionswhose edges are fastened to the cork base.

3. In a tire for bicycle and other vehicle wheels, the combination witha base of cork provided with a continuous channel and with a covering ofcanvas and the like, of a pneumatic tube in the channel of the base, acore closing the entrance to said channel and a tread of suitablematerial covering said core and having side extensions covering the basebetween the tread and the rim of the wheel with the ends of saidextensions secured in place beneath the edges of the wheel-rim.

4. In a tire for bicycle and other vehicle wheels, the combination witha base of cork composed of channeled sections of suitable length,whereby when the sections are connected in a ring a channel extendsthroughout the ring, of a pneumatic tube in said channel, a core closingthe entrance to said channel and a tread of suitable material coveringthe core and suitably secured to the cork base.

5. In a tire for bicycle and other vehicle wheels, the combination witha base of cork composed of channeled sections of suitable length andplates or washers of suitable material interposed between the sections,of a pneumatic tube in the continuous channel of the cork base, a coreclosing the entrance to said channel and a tread of suitable materialcovering the core and suitably secured to the cork base.

6. The combination with the grooved rim of a vehicle-wheel, of a base ofcork provided with a continuous channel and seated in said groove of therim, bolts connected to said base and passing through the grooved rimand provided with screw-nuts whereby the base is secured to the rim, apneumatic tube within the channel of the base, a core filling theentrance to said channel and a tread of suitable material covering thecore and having extensions suit-ably secured to the base.

7. The combination with a base of cork provided with a continuouschannel and covered interiorly and exteriorly with canvas or the like,of a pneumatic tube in the channel of said core, a core of cork providedwith a canvas covering on its under surface and supported on the corkbase at the entrance to its channel, and a tread of suitable materialcovering said core and suitably secured to the base.

8. The combination with the wheel-rim and a base of cork provided with acontinuous channel, of a pneumatic tube placed in said channel, a coreclosing the entrance to said channel, a tread of suitable materialcovering the core and secured to the cork base, and a valve forinflating the pneumatic tube connected to said tube and extendingthrough the cork base and the wheel-rim.

Signed at New York, in the county and State of New York, this 22d day ofJune, 1899.

WILLIAM LENNARD-FOOTE.

Vitnesses:

WM. J. WHIrEHoUsn, J. E. M. BOWEN.

